textrichardsonmauriceleonard1943.html

North High School Wall of Honor
Maurice Leonard Richardson
Class of January, 1943

Research done by Claradell Shedd, class of 1953. PAGE IN PROGRESS

Maurice Leonard Richardson

Maurice Leonard Richardson graduated from North High in the January, 1943 class. His next of kin was shown as Mr. Leonard Richardson, 3214 Sixth Avenue, Des Moines, IA. Maurice enlisted in the US Army at Camp Dodge and eventually the US Marine Corps as well. His service number was _________.

Maurice Leonard Richardson

Year	x	Rank/Event	x	Status

January, 1943	x	x	x	Graduated from North High School
November, 1943	x	Enlisted US Army	x	Enlisted at Camp Dodge, IA. Infantry Replacement Group.
August, 1943	x	US Army	x	Two months of Boot Training at Camp Roberts, CA.
date	x	US Army	x	13th Replacement Depot in Hawaii.
date	x	US Army/ PFC	x	Parry Island, Marshall Islands. Stationed at facility at foot of Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima.
August, 1945- March, 1946	x	Stationed	x	To Hawaii. Fort Kam. Hickam AFB.
March 6, 1946	x	Enroute	x	Flew home to San Francisco. Then to Kansas City. Fort Leonard Wood, MO
date	x	Enroute	x	MO to Des Moines, IA. Reserve program for Army Reserve. Transferred over to Marine Corps Reserve.
date	x	Stationed US Marine Corps	x	Camp Pendleton, CA. To Chief Petty Officer in Army Reserve. Eventually ended up in Marengo, IA at Highway Patrol Academy. May, 1948.
1948	x	Accident	x	Neck broken in accident with drunk driver.
date	x	Employed	x	Arizona Highway Patrol, Tucson, AZ
1975-1999	x	Employed	x	Arizona to Southern California. Private investigator working internationally on copyrights and counterfeiting of sound recordings, 8 tracks, etc.
date	x	Civilian	x	Living in CA.

Landed at Red Sector near Mt. Suribachi

*Maurice Leonard Richardson
Comments written by Maurice personally for the Summer/Fall 2008 issue of Western Lawman published by Region 6, US Section International Police Association.

At 82 years of age, "Bud" is not only a retired law enforcement officer, but he is also a survivor of WWII and the Battle of Iwo Jima. Prior to his 30-year career in law enforcement, Bud served with the US Army during that operation. In March, 2008, Bud and his wife, Kathryn, returned to the island of Iwo Jima for the 62nd commemoration of the battle and the Iowa Jima Reunion of Honor. Bud and his wife were joined by several other Army and Marine veterans for the visit to Iwo Jima which was hosted by Valor Tours in cooperation with Military Historical Tours. Accompany the tour group were several young men and women known as "young Marines." The Young Marines assisted the veterans throughout the tour, helping them with baggage, running errands, escorting them to the battlefield sites, and getting everyone to the ceremonial events on time. Bud and his wife were able to visit the site were he and his unit came ashore in March, 1945, in the red sector, near the south end of the island, not far from Mt. Suribachi.

Bud was a 19-year-old soldier during the Iwo Jima invasion. He and his unit were camped not far from the base of Mt. Suribachi, the Japanese stronghold on the island, and the position from which the Japanese could easily cover the island and surrounding sea with artillery and heavy automatic weapons. Bud said his unit had its own artillery battery in camp which would fire on Mt. Suribachi day and night. One day, he witnessed US Anti-aircraft guns shoot down a Japanese Zero as it was attacking one of the navy ships. Bud also recalled a rather disturbing night on guard duty when his partner, without warning, suddenly fired a shot into the darkness. (Bud and the rest of the guards on duty were wide awake the remainder of the night.) The next morning, they found the body of a Japanese soldier who had penetrated their defensive position, not far from where Bud's partner had fired the shot.

Following the Iwo Jima campaign, Bud and his unit were moved to Hawaii where he remained for the rest of his military service. Upon his return to the US in 1946, Bud joined the Iowa Highway Patrol. Bud and Kathryn married in 1949. After serving six enjoyable years in the Iowa snowbelt, the family moved to the sunny Southwest, Tucson, AZ, in 1952. Bud worked with the Arizona Highway Patrol (now called the Arizona Department of Public Safety) until his retirement from law enforcement in 1975. After moving to California, Bud started an anti-piracy association for Latin audio and video productions, with members in the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bud and Kathryn's daughter, a former ATF agent, took over the operation of the association when Bud retired (again) in 1999.

**Maurice Leonard Richardson
Footnote references for chronological above.

Maurice Leonard Richardson Rank US Army; US Marines

References

(1) The World War II Army Enlistment Records contain information on more than nine million indivdual enlistments. These records can be found online at http://www.archives.gov/.

(2) The comprehensive list of names from North High's 1893-2018 graduation classes are from Claradell Shedd's North Des Moines High School website. The names of North High School graduates can be found online at: http://www.ndmhs.com/. Maurice Leonard Richardson's 1943 class page is: http://www.ndmhs.com/pages/yearclass1943(2008.65).html.

09/01/10. Lives in CA.

Music: "Wind Beneath My Wings"